US begins military exercises with Philippines

Nearly 7,000 American and Filipino soldiers began a 12-day military exercise in Manila onMonday amid wide suspicion of the annual drill's aim at containing China and growingconcerns over the South China Sea.

The joint exercise, named "Balikatan" or "shoulder to shoulder", started with an openingceremony attended by Philippine Armed Forces Chief General Jessie Dellosa and USAmbassador to the Philippines Harry Tomas at the military's general headquarters in CampAguinaldo. It will continue through April 27.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Dellosa did not specifically mention China but stressedthat the drill displayed strong US support for its ally.

"Given the international situation we are in, I say that this exercise, in coordination with allthose we had in the past, (is) timely and mutually beneficial," Dellosa said.

"The conduct of this annual event reflects the aspirations to further relations with our strategically, a commitment that has to be nurtured, especially in the context of the evolving challengesin the region."

Shi Yinhong, a professor of US studies at Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said theUS and the Philippines view China as the imaginary target, which is "very clear" judging by thetraining courses their militaries use.

"The number of participants and the training content suggest the US intends to deter China inthe short term from imposing any possible military threat to the Philippines. As for the long-term significance, the regular drill certainly strengthens the strategic military alliance betweenWashington and Manila to contain Beijing in the South China Sea," Shi said.

The Philippine military said the venue of the training exercises includes the area of SouthChina Sea off Palawan, where both forces will pursue amphibious exercises and gas and oilplatform defense drills.

Prior to the exercise, Emmanuel Garcia, the Balikatan public affairs officer, said on Sunday thatthe exercise is not in anyway related to the standoff between Philippine and Chinese ships atthe Huangyan Island in the South China Sea. He said the military training would be focused onmaritime security and counter-terrorism. He stressed that the exercises are not directed at anycountry.

"The ongoing drill is merely one of the frequent joint exercises of the US and the Philippines.However, in such a sensitive area and at such a sensitive moment, the drill conducted by acountry that has disputable claims with China and no other maritime threat speaks to a hiddenmotive for (the Philippines)," said Li Guoqiang, director of the Research Center of ChineseBorderland History and Geography in China's Academy Social Science.

Reiterating that the Philippines had violated China's sovereignty and triggered a standoff inwaters off the Huangyan Island, which is an integral part of Chinese territory, Foreign Ministryspokesman Liu Weimin on Monday also said that China expects relevant countries to do moreto deepen mutual trust and protect peace and stability in the region.

Shi said Beijing's attitude shows that China still puts the overall stability of the region first,although the moves by the US across the Asia Pacific will "raise strategic doubts" betweenWashington and Beijing.

"Maybe we need not to exaggerate the influence of the annually scheduled drill," Li said. "Butits frequency, the escalating scale and the disregard of China's concerns are clearly violationsof the Declaration on the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, as well as the consensusreached by Beijing and Manila."


China daily